All posts by Jeff

GateHouse, Gannett merge as the newspaper industry’s consolidation escalates

The consolidation of the newspaper industry accelerated with the pending merger of GateHouse and Gannett. This deal, when completed within four to six months, will lead to a massive reduction in management and administrative personnel of the combined companies. The...

UMG members ratify first contract at The Southern Illinoisan

United Media Guild members in The Southern Illinoisan newsroom unanimously approved its first collective bargaining agreement at the Carbondale-based newspaper owned by Lee Enterprises. That bargaining unit achieved its top bargaining goal of gaining a layoff procedure substantially guided by...

Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger wins Pulitzer Prize

Earlier this year the United Media Guild honored St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger with its Terry Hughes Award for exemplary journalism. His exposure of Missouri's "debtors prisons" stirred outrage and triggered change. Monday he won a something exponentially greater...

Pay equity study at the Post-Dispatch identifies disparity

Promoting pay equity one of The NewsGuild's top national priorities in 2019. Examining the disparity in pay for men and women in the workplace is a mandate for each TNG Local. The United Media Guild conducted such a study at...

National presidential election is looming for The NewsGuild

Los Angeles Times activist Jon Schleuss is running against incumbent Bernie Lunzer for president of The NewsGuild. Members in good standing of the United Media Guild -- those members who were paying dues at some point in the previous quarter...

Post-Dispatch outsources its copy editing and design jobs

In a move the United Media Guild has long feared, Lee Enterprises announced it would move the design and copy-editing work at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to its design/editing hub in Munster, Ind. Post-Dispatch management had long resisted the industry-wide...

UMG honors Tony Messenger, Shawn Anglin and other members at awards dinner

The United Media Guild honored some of its top activists and one of its most accomplished journalists Thursday night at its annual Local Meeting and awards dinner. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger won the Terry Hughes Award for exemplary...